Celebrate National Margarita Day This Weekend by Making This Blood Orange Cocktail

Welcome to Thirsty Thursday! Each week we toast the coming weekend with a new adult beverage for you to enjoy. Tweet @SELFmagazine and our associate editor of food + nutrition @MarjorieKorn and tell us what you're imbibing. Cheers!

Saturday is National Margarita Day, created presumably by the all-powerful Margarita Lobby. (No complaints here -- we'll take any excuse to order a marg. In the margarita's honor, a little history lesson: The story goes that the drink was first concocted in a joint in Tijuana circa 1938 by a man named Carlos "Danny" Herrera for an actress named Marjorie King. She could only drink tequila, and since she wasn't a tequila shots type of gal, he gussied it up by adding lime juice and orange liqueur, then salting the rim of the glass.

Fast forward nearly a century and the margarita has taken many forms, such as this one, by Jeff Leanheart, the beverage director for The Smith in New York City. Blood orange is what makes it so special, and since you’re going to need a specific type of liqueur, why not invite some friends over. Just ask them to bring the chips and guac.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 oz silver tequila

1 oz blood orange liqueur (such as Pur or Solerno)

1/2 oz lime juice

1/2 oz freshly squeezed blood orange juice

Salt

Lime wheel

DIRECTIONS:

In a shaker filled with ice, shake together tequila, liqueur, and lime and orange juice. Strain into a salt-rimmed saucer glass and garnish with lime wheel. 156 calories per serving.